


Offer You My Strength

by Kayim



Category: James Bond (Movies), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-26
Updated: 2012-10-26
Packaged: 2017-11-17 02:37:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/546713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayim/pseuds/Kayim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Bond, Q will make the effort.</p>
<p>Takes place after the end of Skyfall - MAJOR SPOILERS</p>
            </blockquote>





	Offer You My Strength

**Author's Note:**

> MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING OF SKYFALL.
> 
> Don't say I didn't warn you.
> 
> Also, I didn't mean to write this, but I got back from the cinema about an hour ago and needed to get some thoughts down. This is the result.

He's in the back of the first SUV that arrives at the chapel, his hands making tight fists on his lap, his foot tapping impatiently. He doesn't often make it out into the field – he may have passed the tests but that doesn't mean he's happy to leave the safety of his makeshift office – but for Bond he'll make the effort.

There's no light other than the silver of the moon, but it seems to be focused on the chapel itself, a spotlight guiding them towards 007 and M. Or M's body, he supposes, the traitorous thought pushing forward. He doesn't know if he's ready to see that, but he's finds himself walking towards the entrance, his body on autopilot.

He can hear voices around him, shouting out orders, reporting to superiors, but he's only searching for one person. His eyes latch onto a dark corner, deep inside the building, away from the hustle and bustle that is crowding the area, and he moves closer. There's no movement, but he imagines he can hear soft breaths, and takes it as an invitation.

"Q."

Bond's voice is harsh and jagged, as though he's been crying, and Q doesn't want to think about that. The Bond that he's known and followed electronically for years is stronger than him, braver, less emotional, and he's not sure how he's going to cope with knowing that he's not as unbreakable as people believe.

"You seem to have made a bit of a mess, 007," he replies, his own voice misleadingly steady. He hopes that Bond can't see the way his hands are shaking, or hear the irregular thumping of his heart. There are a dozen other things he wants to say – I'm sorry for what happened, I wish it could have ended differently, I should have been here – but instead he manages something trite and meaningless. He hopes that Bond will understand the unspoken words regardless.

Bond takes a step out of the shadows and Q can see his bloodshot eyes and his pale, drawn expression. He reaches out his hand, as if to offer a handshake, and Q takes it, gripping it in his own.

For a moment, they stand like that, neither one moving, neither one speaking, and Q realises that this is how both of them will cope. He allows Bond to draw whatever strength he can, offering everything he has to fortify the agent, giving him the chance to compose himself before they have to face the others.

It's no different from the way he works from behind a laptop screen, Q decides as Bond's grip tightens and the fear and anger in his face softens. He's still the buffer between Bond and the rest of the world, keeping him safe in his own way, giving Bond whatever he needs to survive.

He may not be a field agent, but he's Q, and he's the best damn Quartermaster James Bond will ever have.


End file.
